REUTERS – Dec 7 – The Japanese government plans to step up efforts to stem the country's tumbling birth rate by helping to fund more sophisticated AI matchmaking systems. The number of births in 2019 was down 5.8% to 865K, the lowest annual figure ever: a drop in the number of marriages and a rise in the age of marriage both played a part. In a country with a long history of human matchmakers, local governments have already moved on to AI matching systems to pair people up, but many only consider criteria such as income and age and only produce results if there is an exact match. The latest funding will allow access to systems which pair people with a potential partner even if those income or age wishes do not match.
